This blog provides delicious,traditional, vegetarian, South Indian Recipes from my mother Chitra Amma's kitchen. There are few 'world recipes' as well!
Thanks to Shravan, Pranav, Akash, Tara, Guggs, Shankari, Adu, Dhrithi, and Appa Ramachandran for the photos!

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Monday, September 25, 2017

The first dish to be served on auspicious occasions in a Banana Leaf Meal / Bale Yele Oota/ Vazhai Elai Virundhu is Bele Payasa or Paruppu Payasam (Lentil Porridge). Even when the menu comprises of other exotic sweets a Yele Kone Payasa is a must in traditional feasts. Kadale Bele Payasa /Kadalai Paruppu Payasam prepared using split Bengal gram is a flavoursome festive Payasa/Payasam which can also be relished hot or cold as a dessert after a full meal. This delicious lentil pudding is served on the right hand corner of the bottom half of the banana leaf. Hence it is known as Yele Kone Payasa (roughly translates to leaf corner Porridge). At the start of the meal the thick porridgy Payasa/Payasam is swiped off the leaf using four fingers excepting the thumb and then relished by licking it off the fingers, virtually making it a finger licking dish!

INGREDIENTS

Split Bengal gram dal - 1 cup

Powdered jaggery - 1 cup

Fresh coconut gratings - 2 cups

Rice flour - 1 tsp

Cardamom (2 numbers) and edible camphor(the size of a pin head) powdered together

Cashew nuts/almonds and raisins - 2 tbsps

Ghee - 1 tbsp

METHOD

1. Pressure cook Bengal gram dal adding two cups of water until three whistles.

Friday, September 15, 2017

GONGURA SADAM
Gongura season (Pulicha keerai in Tamil/ Pundi soppu in Kannada) is here! The only dish I prepare during every Gongura season is Gongura Tokku! My house help Gowri not only buys Gongura for me during the season but also gives me simple instructions on how to cook it. I tried out this simple masial/kadaisal recipe of hers which we relished. Gongura Sadam prepared using the masial was also a big hit!

INGREDIENTS

Gongura - 2 big bundles

Onion - 1 big (Chopped)

Garlic - 12 cloves (Peeled)

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1 1/2 tsps

Red chillies - 8 (Broken)

Sesame oil - 1/4 cup

METHOD

1. Separate the gongura leaves from the stalk and thoroughly wash three or four times.

2. Drain the leaves and spread them out on a kitchen towel.

3. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds.

4. When the mustard seeds splutter add the chopped onion and garlic, and fry till they turn golden in colour.

5. Add the red chillies and saute for a couple of minutes.

6. Add the gongura leaves a handful at a time and keep sauteing.

7. Add more leaves as the previous batch wilts and sinks into the kadai.

8. Keep stirring and mashing the leaves using the back of a ladle.

9. When the leaves come together into a mass stir in salt and switch off flame after it blends well with the masial.

10. Allow to cool and grind half of the mixture in a blender, pour it back into the remaining masial and mix well.

Enjoy the Gongura Masial / Kadaisal with steaming hot rice or relish it as a side dish with dosa, chapati, ragi rotti or jolada rotti.

TO MAKE GONGURA SADAM

1. Take a cup of cooked rice and break the lumps.

2. Add one spoon of sesame oil or ghee and coat the rice so that they do not clump together.

3. Add one table spoon or more of the Gongura masial / Kadaisal depending on your taste and mix gently till the rice is evenly coated with the masial.

4. Enjoy the spicy and tangy Gongura Rice with any cool raita of your choice.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

A few decades ago my mother-in-law used to obtain Hituku bele from Avare Kaalu (Field Beans) by first soaking the beans for at least six hours. The soaked kaalus (beans) were patiently pinched and squeezed one at a time so that the Hituku bele literally jumped out of its skin! You can very well imagine the number of hours she put in to give a decent serving of the Hituku Bele delicacy she would patiently prepare for every member of our large family! Thanks to HOPCOMS, nowadays ready to use Hituku Bele is easily available during the season.

I had tasted Hituku Bele Payasa for the first time at the Avarekai Mela a few years ago. Since then I have been planning to try it out at home and some how it was getting postponed. I tried out Hituku Bele Payasa today for the first time and it turned out delicious.

INGREDIENTS

Hituku Bele/ Deskinned fresh field beans - 1 cup

Milk - 2 1/2 cups

Fresh coconut gratings - 2 tbsps

Powdered jaggery - 4 tbsps

Powdered cardamom - 1 pinch

METHOD

1. Wash and cook Hituku Bele in two cups of milk till it is done and remove two table spoons of the cooked bele and set aside for garnishing.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

We have celebrated festivals back to back through out the month of August. Now it is time to rest our system for a while and get ready to handle the next set of festivals starting from Navaratri. Owing to continuous indulgence in festive food we tend to lose appetite. The specific ingredients used in the preparation of Milagu Kuzhambu induce hunger, alleviate biliousness, activate the taste buds and help in good digestion. Normally Milagu Kuzhambu is served in a small quantity as a digestive relish similar to other relishes or chutneys along with a meal. One morsel of rice with this kuzhambu at the beginning of a meal is sufficient to give one a detoxed feeling. Instead of Sambar, Milagu Kuzhambu can be served with rice topped with ghee or sesame oil as the main course in a full meal when vegetables are added to it. Here I have added Knol Khol to this recipe. Incidentally Knol Khol is high in anti oxidant and is also useful in relieving indigestion.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Beetroot was taboo in our kitchen during our childhood days. May be the bright red colour put off the elders who cooked for the family. Now a days I use beetroot to prepare Porial/Thoran, Halwa, Salad (kosumalli), Thair Pachadi, Cutlets and even Adais! I still have a mind block when it comes to preparing Beetroot and Green gram dal Koottu which is my sister-in-law's favourute. I instantaneously fell for the Beetroot and Black Chana/Kadalai curry that I relished at a restaurant and now it has become one of the regular menu items at home.

INGREDIENTS

Beetroot - 2 big ones

Black Chick Peas / Kadalai /Black Chana - 1cup ( soak overnight)

Salt - 1 tsp

Sesame oil or Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Black gram dal - 1 tsp

Red chillies (broken) - 2

Curry leaves - a few

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Finely chopped onion - 2 tbsps

Fresh grated coconut - 4 tbsps

METHOD

1. Drain the soaked Black Chick Peas/Kadalai, sprinkle a handful of fresh water and keep it in a separator in the pressure cooker.

2. Thoroughly wash and cut the Beetroots into half and place them in another separator, and set it on top of the previous separator with Kadalai.

3. Pressure cook until three whistles, switch off flame and allow it to cool.

4. Peel the pressure cooked Beets and chop them into small cubes.

5. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds.

6. When the mustard seeds splutter add black gram dal and fry till it turns into a golden colour.

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Hello

Welcome to Chitra Amma's Kitchen.

I am Dibs. I am a born Foodie. I love to cook; love to eat; love to feed folks who appreciate good food. Blogging provides me a great way of documenting my mother, Chitra’s recipes, as a ready reference irrespective which time zone I live in. Amma honestly makes the best food I've ever had, and somehow, the anecdotes she tells us, make the dishes taste all the better.Most posts here are written by my mother Chitra. It’s her recipes, along with related reminiscences of people, places and anecdotes. She writes, I post!What started for a lark, has now become a serious hobby, drawing in participation from the whole family. My father, S.R. Ramachandran has started clicking away every dish made at home! Aunts, cousins, siblings, contribute to photos, and ask for recipes.We try to illustrate implements such as utensils, grinding stones and so on from the ‘pre-electric-mixer’ days wherever possible. We hope this will make an interesting read for future generations, on how food was cooked in earlier times!The site is still in its infancy, and slowly evolving, as our skills improve! We invite your comments, ideas, and questions, and will attempt answering them.

Thank you for your visit, and we hope you enjoy your stay at Chitra Amma’s Kitchen.